Hero’s welcome for ex-prisoner

David Macharia | NATION
Susan Cherono Langa’t (front right) is welcomed by church members as she leaves Nyahururu GK Prison on August 22, 2011 after serving a term for failing to take her sick child to hospital.

Hundreds of members of a Pentecostal church on Monday flocked to a prison to witness the release of a colleague jailed for refusing to take a sick child to hospital.

The worshippers cheered as Ms Susan Cherono Lang’at walked out of Nyahururu GK Prison gates after serving a six-month term imposed by the Nyahururu principal magistrate, Ms Teresiah Matheka in March.

Ms Lang’at, 54, was convicted of failing to take her 12-year-old daughter, Martha, to hospital after a meningitis attack.

Ms Matheka said Ms Lang’at was a danger to her children’s well-being “as she believes taking them to hospital or seeking medical care is a sure way of desecrating herself and her children’s purity”.

Shocked people

Ms Lang’at shocked the court when she said she would throw away the drugs her daughter was taking if she were to go home. She insisted her faith would not allow her to seek modern medical services.

On Monday, just like the day she was jailed, Ms Lang’at from Subukia in Nakuru County refused to show remorse, saying, her stint in jail had not changed anything.

“My faith remains unscathed despite the prison having no Bibles,” the mother of nine said.

“I prayed a lot, prayed for you all and my family, asking God to protect you from harm,” she told the faithful.

The followers sang and danced through the streets of Nyahururu to a park in the town where the celebrations continued.